Cal baseball's demise shocks big-league alums

Cal baseball

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The silence echoed through the phone line, from Texas to Northern California. Former Giants second baseman Jeff Kent had just learned Cal, his alma mater, was eliminating its baseball program as part of cost-cutting measures announced Tuesday.

Kent said nothing for five seconds, then 10 seconds, then 15 seconds.

Finally, incredulously, he replied, "You're telling me the University of California is not going to have a baseball program? ... If I could put it in one word, I'm disgusted right now. I'm absolutely embarrassed to be a Cal baseball alum knowing the school is cutting the program."

Kent later softened his tone, but his initial reaction spoke volumes about the emotional impact of Tuesday's news. The decision to drop baseball hit especially hard among former Cal players - many of whom, like Kent, went on to make a splash in the major leagues.

The Bears haven't enjoyed much success in recent years, but their baseball program flows with history. They began playing in 1892, won the first College World Series in 1947 (over a Yale team including future president George H.W. Bush), won another national championship in '57 and cranked out a long list of standout pros.

Jackie Jensen and Kent won Most Valuable Player awards in the majors, Jensen in 1958 with the Boston Red Sox and Kent in 2000 with the Giants. Mike Epstein spent nine years in the majors as a first baseman, including the 1972 title season with the A's. Andy Messersmith pitched for 12 seasons and gained even more renown for helping usher in free agency.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Jeff Kent #12 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the major league record-holder for home runs by a second baseman announces his retirement after 17seasons in Major League Baseball at a press conference on January 22, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) less

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Jeff Kent #12 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the major league record-holder for home runs by a second baseman announces his retirement after 17seasons in Major League Baseball at ... more

Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

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Brian Guinn, has a list of plays attached to his arm during a game against UC Davis on Tuesday May, 5, 2009 in Berkeley, Calif. The team uses a numeric system to deliver plays to the batters, which corresponds to the list. less

Brian Guinn, has a list of plays attached to his arm during a game against UC Davis on Tuesday May, 5, 2009 in Berkeley, Calif. The team uses a numeric system to deliver plays to the batters, which corresponds ... more

"That program was very successful in developing talent," said Kevin Maas, a first baseman at Cal in the 1980s and later with the New York Yankees. "It's a blow to the gut - my heart and soul has been part of Cal baseball for 25 years. To not have baseball in the mix is beyond belief, because it's part of the culture of our society.

"Cal is such a standout university academically and athletically, and now we don't have a baseball team? When we were part of the most outstanding conference in the country? That blows me away."

One of the things that lured Maas and others to Berkeley - playing in the Pac-10, long one of the nation's top baseball conferences - might have contributed to the program's demise. Cal, even with its steady stream of pro prospects, seldom contended for the conference title in recent years.

The Bears finished higher than fourth in the Pac-10 only once in the past 15 years and made just three NCAA tournament appearances in that span (though they reached the postseason twice in the past three years).

"I figured baseball was pretty close to untouchable, just because it's one of the bigger sports," Kent said. "But if I stop to think about it, attendance probably has been really poor and they haven't done a whole lot in the national rankings. I guess, business-wise, baseball had a target on it."

Former Giants and A's center fielder Darren Lewis tried to divide his reaction into two parts - his own emotions, given his time at Cal, and the impact of this decision on young players such as those he coaches as a volunteer assistant at Dougherty Valley High in San Ramon.

"It's just disappointing and hard to believe," Lewis said. "What this really does is take away opportunity from a lot of young players - a lot of the kids I coach probably dream of playing at Cal."

Said Stanford coach Mark Marquess: "It's a sad day for college baseball. This has an effect on all of the Pac-10, because you're talking about a program that started playing baseball in the late 1890s. That's over 100 years of tradition."